M-Net’s My Kitchen Rules SA a reality drama dish worth serving

The first local season of My Kitchen Rules South Africa, which started on M-Net (DStv 101) on Sunday at 18:00, is from a particular type of reality drama menu you've ordered and eaten from on TV before – but it's well worth a second helping.

My Kitchen Rules South Africa most closely resembles BBC South Africa's successful Come Dine With Me South Africa, except that here its couples instead of individuals taking turns to host each other.
There's also the two judges – David Higgs and J'Something – pulling out chairs to tuck into whatever the competitors are whipping up in their respective kitchens and adding their scores to the overall tallies.
The first episode set in Bloemfontein with the first two contestants – the "Bloem Besties" Liz and Leanne – has a slightly washed out and coppertone appearance which is probably due to the Free State winter landscape in which it was filmed.

The show makes excellent use of establishing and panoramic drone shots, and of introducing the first five couples who will be competing. The framing of the various couples as they dish about the dishes is also great.
Some small technical mistakes will probably go unnoticed by ordinary viewers, like the plastic tubing of David Higgs' earpiece being visible (and moving to different sides from one moment to the next due to editing).
A "countdown clock" is introduced but never really appears enough, or counts down with enough visible screen time to accentuate the drama build-up.

The lighting is remarkably good given that it's being filmed in contestants' real homes and David Higgs as the strict, more Simon Cowell-ish judge and J'Something as the more smiley face Paula Abdul-type makes for a well-balanced, good-cop/bad-cop judging duo.